


game of hearts

by childofthenight2035



Category: GOT7, JJ Project
Genre: Fluff and Angst, I Don't Know Either, M/M, something Supernatural
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:27:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,340
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28128357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/childofthenight2035/pseuds/childofthenight2035
Summary: They had met here, he remembered, and been the best of friends ever since. They had graduated together and left for college together. He remembered that he had come to town once during college, alone, and that’s...that’s when things changed.
Relationships: Im Jaebum | JB/Park Jinyoung
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	game of hearts

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this like five whole years ago oh my god it's horrible, please don't comment or give it a kudos i am properly ashamed of this i don't even know why i'm posting

“Oh, wow,” he murmurs as he steps through the thick foliage into the tiny hidden clearing. “It’s still here.” How could it possibly be? It had been years since Jaebeom came home and he was sure Jinyoung hadn’t either. 

For reasons beyond his comprehension, Jinyoung had always refused to return to the little town they had grown up in. He always looked at him expectantly, almost pleading with his eyes as if something beyond his control was stopping him from agreeing. Finally, Jaebeom had come alone.

He hops over a fallen branch, his boots crunching over the mix of leaves, twigs and gravel. How was it possible that the clearing hadn’t become overgrown during all these years? It seems different, though…somehow. He remembers the space as bright, green and cheery. Now, it looks as if the colours are fading. He wonders briefly if there's something wrong with his eyes, but intuition tells him that isn’t the case— it's more as though the clearing is dying.

They had met here, he remembers, and been the best of friends ever since. They were so young at the time; they went through everything together in the years following. He chuckles to himself as he recalls the kiss that they had shared— once and only once, without being old enough to understand what it meant. He admitted to himself that there had been other instances, later, when he felt like kissing Jinyoung, but had held himself back.

They had learned to ride bicycles together and had played in pools together. They had gone to music classes and cheered for each other at concerts. They had set up dates and comforted each other when things didn’t work out, and on those long nights talking, they had decided that it was some sort of magic that had led them to the clearing in the woods on the day they had met. They had graduated together and left for college together. He remembers that Jinyoung had come to town once during college, alone, and that’s...that’s when things changed.

The tree house appears as firm and stable as it had been when they first arrived at the clearing. How it got there, who built it and when, they didn’t know. They assumed that it was the only remainder of a lonely child long ago and that it had somehow survived. The tree house was so closely connected to the tree that it seems to him a single living breathing being.

With each step he takes towards it, he only feels his sense of foreboding rise. He brushes it off, thinking it's just the rush of memories and feelings.

The day before Jinyoung left for town had been the last day he had genuinely smiled at Jaebeom. He had known it was unwise to let him go by himself, but Jaebeom had been too busy at the time to accompany him and he knew Jinyoung disliked being overprotected.

He had come back as a different person. He rarely smiled or laughed and used harsh words in plenty. His temper, already heated, seemed to have become more superficial, bubbling up at the tiniest things.  
It took Jaebeom a lot of time and persuasion to calm him. Perhaps he tried too hard. Jinyoung was no longer interested in the world and didn’t even have a desire to live. He seemed to be an empty shell, never speaking about his passions or dreams. Jaebeom worried about him. He knew something had happened while he was here, but he never got an answer out of him. This trip was also meant for finding out what. 

He sets his palms against the tree trunk, wondering if it would bear his weight. Eight years old is very different from twenty-eight. But it seems strong enough. He places his foot on a knot and hoists himself onto a higher branch. Is he imagining it, or could he feel a tiny heartbeat from within the wood? No, it must be his own blood pressure.

He climbs further still, his heartbeat (or is it really the tree’s?) rising, getting more powerful. And when he sets foot in the tree house, he hears it.

The steady drum of a heart, the same sound a doctor would hear through a stethoscope, only much louder and more real. The walls of the house vibrates lightly with each beat, giving him the impression that he was standing within a living heart. And then his eyes fall on the box.

There is nothing to be said about the box itself— it's a plain brown rusty crate with no visible lock. What catches his attention is the aura radiating from it— one of power and life. It terrifies him. It seems that the horribly loud heartbeat is…it's coming from whatever is in that box.

He knows the story of the Garden of Eden and that Eve had eaten the forbidden fruit. He knows he shouldn’t open the box, but an irresistible voice speaks in his head, urging him on. He steps towards the centre of the room as if in a trance and places a hand on the edge of the box. It springs open at his touch.

His eyes widen. He leaps back, horrified, nearly overcome by an intense desire to vomit.

Inside is a fleshy mass, blood red and swollen, pulsating in a sickening way. And suddenly he understands. It is a heart; to be more precise, it was _his_ heart. Jinyoung's heart.

He stares at the ivy vines and branches circling it, tightening their hold and he realizes that this is the life source that had held this clearing together for the past ten years. The ivy…time…distance…the heart— his heart— is dying.

The truth strikes him with incredible force.

Jinyoung had met him there and he had lost his heart there, because he loved him the way no one else could.

Jaebeom is again drawn by indescribable forces, closer and closer still. He knows he is faced with two choices— to make Jinyoung his own, bound by his side for the rest of his life; or to walk away and live a free man, but the heart would die alone. 

Being forced to make that choice opens up his eyes and his heart, yearning to unite with the other. Jaebeom had always loved him. Didn’t he know that? Yes, he did. Fear had kept him away. But now, he meant to rectify that mistake. Now the only question— would touching the heart save him, or do the opposite? He couldn’t think. He knows his rationality wouldn’t work here. He lets his instincts guide him. 

He takes a slow step forward, trembling from head to foot and reaches out. His slender fingers connect with the beating heart.

One hundred and twenty-four miles away, Jinyoung collapses.

He claws at his chest, gasping for air, finally feeling the gaping wound that was there. Jaebeom's name falls from his lips like a prayer as people rushed to help.  
And then darkness closes in on them both.

-

Jaebeom is shaken awake by a voice, _Jinyoung's_ voice, calling his name. His eyes fly open, and he sits bolt upright, chest heaving. He's… in a bed? His room! He looks to his side and sees Jinyoung sitting next to him, his eyes full of concern.

“Did you have a bad dream?” he asks.

A bad dream?! _No_ , he says to himself. _It wasn’t a dream._ It…it happened. He's sure of it. A glance at Jinyoung's face tells him he didn’t remember. Had— had he altered time? He glances down at the ring on his finger. He could recall proposing. His memories settle in two layers: the old past and the new.  
Jinyoung is alive. He's here, with him.

He cups his face and kisses him lovingly, passionately; then buries his face in the crook of his neck, grateful for his warmth.

_Finally_ , he thinks, _a choice I will never regret._

Jinyoung hadn’t lost his heart. He had given it to him.

**Author's Note:**

> stupid, right? i told you so


End file.
